


Leverage, Season 2, Episodes 14-15, The Three Strikes Job and The Maltese Falcon Job

by TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer



Category: Leverage
Genre: Analysis, Episode Review, Episode: s02e14 The Three Strikes Job, Episode: s02e15 The Maltese Falcon Job, Meta, Nonfiction, Season Finale, Season/Series 02, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:28:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24519205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer/pseuds/TheSomewhatRamblingReviewer
Summary: Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode and the rest of the series. Complete.
Kudos: 6





	Leverage, Season 2, Episodes 14-15, The Three Strikes Job and The Maltese Falcon Job

Why did you have to make the first part of season finale be a sports episode, show?

Open to Bonanno being shot under a bridge by people who are either corrupt FBI or imposters.

Robert Blanche was a good actor, but I’ve always been meh on Bonanno. I’m glad he survives this, but I don’t have the same emotional attachment certain audience members and characters do to him.

Next, Nate visits the hospital, and Mrs Bonanno and Bonanno jr. are there. She and him have a nice conversation, though, she isn't able to offer much in way of leads due to her husband never really talking about his job.

Looking at the son, he has the flashback of Sam dying.

At the bar, he leaves yet another message begging Sophie to call. Then, calling again, he leaves an angrier message.

Upstairs, Team Leverage is assembled, and Tara points out, “This guy's a cop. You're thieves.”

Nate angrily insists he isn’t before pointing out Bonanno is the one they usually tip off when they need a mark arrested.

The others make logical points about why taking this case might be a bad idea, but angry Nate yells. They figure out who the BGotW is, and if The Tudors taught me anything it’s: Never trust a fictional or fictionalised Culpepper.

Though, I’m sure there are real Culpeppers who are perfectly lovely people.

Over to Mayor Culpepper running for re-election. Tara and Nate are present.

Elsewhere, Hardison has FBI and DEA shirts, and Eliot is snarky. Via earbud, however, Parker is appreciative of Hardison’s work, mostly because she wants to be joining them. Instead, she jumps off a building to get into Culpepper’s office.

Culpepper is told about Nate and Tara donating 20 grand, and so, he goes to talk to them.

Parker gets into the office.

Wearing crime lab jackets, Eliot and Hardison go to Bonanno’s house. They deal with a rookie cop who’s been put on house-sitting duty, and there’s a moment where Eliot is so amused with and proud of his future husband.

Parker is about to get caught, and so, Tara excuses herself from the conversation with Culpepper to talk Parker through what to say: The married mayor knocked me up, and so, I can wait in his office for him, or I can go talk to him outside.

The woman who caught her opts for Parking doing the former.

Going back to Nate and Culpepper, there’s talk about the latter once being a professional baseball player, and then, he asks what they want for 20 grand.

Over to the future husbands, Eliot found Bonanno’s investigation notes. Parker talks to them via earbud, and it’s discovered Culpepper is in shady land business deals.

With Culpepper, Nate declares they aren’t interested in doing business with him. They leave, and eventually, Eliot ends up playing baseball as part of the con.

There’s a scene where Hardison and Eliot talk, and it turns out Eliot doesn’t like baseball. Neither do I. This will change for one of us during this episode. For a hint towards which, refer to the first sentence of this review.

Culpepper offers Nate money to have something sports-related happen in Culpepper’s town, and I think this is illegal.

The four leave, and I do like this exchange between Nate and Tara:

“All right, good news, bad news,” Nate says.

“Good news?” Tara asks.

“The mayor's hooked. We're in the pinch.”

“Bad news?”

“I think we lost Eliot until the playoffs.”

Heh.

Later, Eliot comes to the bar, and annoyed they didn’t stay for the rest of his game, he simplifies Hardison’s plan down. Now, back to his future father-in-law, his future spouses, and Team Leverage’s cool auntie all showing a lack of support for the game he didn’t even like less than a week ago…

Then, they’re happy a sandwich was named after him, and all is forgiven.

The mayor, however, throws a wrench into plans by calling to say he’s going to give the agreed upon money in cash.

After the call ends, thugs leave Culpepper’s office.

In the bar, Team Leverage shows hesitation, but Nate is insistent they keep going with the plan.

Next, going somewhere, Eliot and Hardison are Homeland Security, except, one of the guards recognises Eliot as a the baseball player but is too focused on getting an autograph to realise this is not Kosher.

Or at least, I’m going to assume people who work for Homeland Security do not have gigs as professional baseball players. I’m sure some Homeland Security people do play normal baseball games in their spare time, but professional ones? And if I’m wrong, I’m not even going to bother trying to figure out how the frell that works.

Once the guards are gone, Hardison realises something is wrong.

Over to Nate and Tara meeting Culpepper in a warehouse, it’s revealed the latter is an FBI informant. Who also put out a hit on a cop.

Meanwhile, with the poly trio, Eliot and Parker don FBI jackets, and Hardison calls FBI Lady Agent to inform her there are hostages in the building with their informant.

Weirdly, a man is carrying FLA’s phone around. I’m pretty sure her outfit has pockets.

Inside, Nate gets violent with Culpepper, and Tara’s literally: Let him go or kill him right now, but do something quick.

I do consider Tara to be Team Leverage, but it’s a good thing she’s only part time. I don’t think she’s a sociopath, but she is more mercenary and pragmatic than any of the others. She’s unashamedly more interested in payday with her helping those who Team Leverage gets emotionally invested in due to a combination of owing Sophie and genuinely enjoying working with the team, and though she’s nowhere near as violent as Eliot, she is definitely the most comfortable with violence happening as long as it’s not happening to her.

With the poly trio, Hardison is not happy with his future spouses when they come up with the idea of blowing up his van.

In the warehouse, Nate calls FLA. He’s willing to release one hostage.

Culpepper is sent out, and remote controlling the van to drive towards the building, Hardison brokenheartedly blows it up.

In real life, I think the explosion would, at best, only seriously hurt FLA and the others and, at worst, could kill them.

Then, it’s revealed, several different agents got the one hostage who was released, and FBI Eliot and Parker pulled up to drive said hostages to safety.

Also, they stole FLA’s car to do this.

They meet up with a moody Hardison, and for all I like Hardison, I probably wouldn’t be as loyal or patient as Team Leverage is here. Nate promises Hardison can bitch him out later, but for now, get in the damn car.

Hardison does.

Back to FLA, she’s not pleased with Culpepper. There’s a cool editing trick where it focuses on her ranting about having no idea who Team Leverage is or what they want, and suddenly, Sterling is standing nearby. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that. James Sterling, Interpol. Just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?”

…

Open to Team Leverage driving in FLA’s car. There’s a report about the explosion and the fact Team Leverage is armed and dangerous, but it’s stated this is not terrorism-related.

There’s no real proof, but I believe Sterling is responsible for this part. FLA could have come to the reasonable assumption this was possibly terrorism-related, but out of either simple decency or something deeper, Sterling had a report sent out saying, yes, these people are dangerous, but they’re not terrorists.

Getting out of the car, Team Leverage tries to decide what to do. There’s a cute moment where Hardison starts technobabbling, and Eliot says, “Hardison, geek spiral.” Hardison simplifies it: They can spy on FLA, and when they do, they hear about Interpol.

They head to the hotel FLA and Sterling are going to be stashing Culpepper at, and once there, having Parker steal a towel, Tara gets them in a room by dropping said towel off her otherwise naked body in front of a hotel worker.

Eliot and Parker both stare, but it’s more shock and amazement than any sort of ogling.

Whilst Team Leverage is preparing, Sterling rips into FLA, and I’ll give him this: I fully believe he’d be just as much a condescending jerk if she were a man. This said: Wow, Sterling can really be a jerk at times.

It’s discovered the mayor is involved with illegal arms dealers, and Team Leverage decides this is why Sterling is involved.

I’d bet money he’s involved, because, he realised Team Leverage was.

Nate says not to worry about Sterling, and Eliot calls him on his arrogance. Nate says he’s free to walk away, but Eliot responds, “I'm not walkin' away. It's not my job. My job is to get your back. And, Nate, I'm gonna do it. All the way down. But I need you to do your job.”

When Nate asks what that is, Parker answers, “Be Nathan Ford. Be the person we came back for.”

Nate wants to get the person who shot Bonanno, and they agree to help.

So, they kidnap Culpepper from his hotel room, and there’s a hilarious scene where Sterling gets in an elevator, and running up every flight of stairs, Nate continually has the elevator stop on every single floor.

Really, it might have been safer if he didn’t do this, because, he’s close to being seen by Sterling several times, and it definitely slows him down to do this, but he’s embracing his petty, and I’m here for it.

Getting out, Sterling passes Eliot, and though he senses something, he doesn’t see Eliot’s face. Then, Sterling gets to the room, and he chews out one of the FBI agents over the little fact their witness is missing.

There’s a flashback of how Team Leverage did this.

Meanwhile, Sterling believes Culpepper is in a car trunk.

“Thanks for making it interesting, Nate,” he says to himself.

Over in the room where Culpepper isn’t in a trunk, Team Leverage psychologically tortures him. He gives up the gun runner’s location, and they knock him back out.

Nate doles out assignments before leaving, and there’s a fakeout scene of Tara doing a double-cross.

At headquarters, Nate is confronted with Sterling holding a framed picture Sam drew. FLA is with him, and he offers a deal: Help get the gun runner, and Nate but Nate alone will get a free pass.

On a different note: I misunderstood a scene in Bonanno’s first episode. I thought he wasn’t State Police, but he is. I’ll get around to editing that eventually.

Meanwhile, Tara, Eliot, and Parker are at the docks.

Back at headquarters, Nate talks to Sophie on the phone, and he tries to confess his love. Two problems: They can’t hear one another due to her being in a helicopter, and for all he says it with his speech, the word ‘love’ itself can’t come out of his mouth.

Putting in his earbud, he summons Team Leverage to headquarters.

He lays out his plan to get the gun runner.

During the plan, Parker makes as if she’s going to kill Tara for the double-cross, and I’m curious if she really would have. Word of God is apocrypha, but going by it, Parker exploding her foster parents’ house happened when everyone was out of it. Has Parker killed before? I imagine she probably could kill in self-defence, but would she kill if she was angry enough or felt it was something she needed to do?

It’s revealed Tara set up a meeting between Sophie and the gun runner, and Sophie’s arrival on the ship saves Nate’s life.

Elsewhere on the ship, Eliot is captured but gets free. From what I’ve read about zip-ties, I’m not sure if a person breaking zip-ties with pure strength is something a person can do, but I haven’t read much on it and have no personal experience with them.

Culpepper gets free from the storage container Team Leverage stored him in, and Eliot, Hardison, and Sophie free a handcuffed Nate.

They get Culpepper and the gun runner locked up in a room on the ship, but unknown to them, Nate is shot.

Tara bounces, and there’s a helicopter waiting for the rest of them, but Sterling plus the FBI arrive right after Tara’s gone.

Then, it’s revealed Nate’s the one did a sort-of double-cross. Handcuffing himself to the railing, it’s comes out that he tricked Team Leverage into destroying the evidence on the gun runner and Culpepper’s connection to him. There’s only his testimony left, and if Sterling wants it, Team Leverage walks free.

Minus Sophie, Team Leverage is confused and _pissed_.

Calling it a draw, Sterling pulls rank on FLA when she tries to refuse, and they walk away to wait for backup.

“Come here,” Nate says.

Hoping this will be when he reveals the real plan, they do.

“You guys are the most honourable people I have ever met in my life. You've become my family. My only family. I won't forget that.” He looks at Eliot. “Now, get 'em on the chopper. Please. Now!”

The poly trio aren’t the poly trio yet. It might be different if they were, but this isn’t about Eliot getting the loves of his life to safety. Nate would die for Sophie, Parker, and/or Hardison, and since Eliot would die for Nate, he’d die for any of the three, too. He doesn’t like this choice: Nate or them, but he understands it. He’d never let any of the three go down for him, and if they weren’t involved, he wouldn’t let Nate, but they are, and they’re not going down for Nate, either.

He gets Parker and Hardison to the chopper.

Sophie and Nate kiss, and then, she slaps him for calling her back for this. She doesn’t need to go to the chopper; she could get out on her own, but she shares the sentiment of Nate’s words, and so, she goes to look after the family she made with him.

Sterling and FLA come back, and Sterling notices Nate is bleeding. With the others gone, Nate falls.

An agent wonders who Nate even is, and Sheppard put a lot into Sterling’s response of, “I don’t know.”

Nate finally comes to peace with things: “My name's Nate Ford, and I am a thief.”

Laughing, he looks up to watch his family, his reason worth living and dying for, get to safety, safety he managed to procure for them. It is and isn't comparable to all the things he wanted and tried so desperately to give to his flesh-and-blood son, but if he does die here, he’ll die having regained a large part of himself back.

Being a thief doesn’t have to mean someone is a bad person or parent, and he might not be a good man, but he is one who will do whatever he needs to for his family.

Fin.


End file.
